People Talk, Alot
by Jaigagne
Summary: This is a story between the lines and between the characters Arizona and Callie.  I hope you enjoy it! Note: I apologize for the upload error in chapter 2, it's been remedied
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** People Talk, Alot 1/?

**Author:** Lauren Michelle

**Pairing:** Callie/Arizona

**Rating:** PG, for this one at least

**Summary:** Before the kiss at Joe's and how Arizona got ahold of all of this, "talk."

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the show, or anything related to the show. I don't make any money, from this or otherwise, and simply am writing for my enjoyment.

This is my first fanfiction since I was fifteen, so feel free to hand me some critisism. I'm also a very new fan, so I hope to improve soon! I have no beta, so all the mistakes are my own. I just figured I'd take a stab at it, though it's a bit short. Enjoy!

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Bailey had left, and the case was barely a success. Jackson had fought hard, and a weight had lifted off of Arizona's shoulders. Calming her breathing, she brought her eye level up and began towards the on-call room.

She knew she should suck it up and go home, but there were so many memories there, so many pains that animated themselves throughout the apartment. She knew she should face them, but she just wasn't ready yet.

The door now in sight, her peripherals picked up something unexpected, someone new. Her instinct instantly changed her course and prompted her to duck into a patient's doorway. After a moment of stillness, her mind coursed with how ridiculous this was and she peeked out to the left.

"Who is that?" she whispered, in half awe and half puzzlement.

A dark-haired women was leaning back onto the nurse's station as she talked to Dr. Sloan.

"So, you're dating children now?" Callie questioned with a smirk.

"Can we please drop this?"

"No, no, the little Grey has been following me around ready to explode, all day. Until you give her a sucker to either appease her nervous eating, or a metaphorical one that'll free her from this little secret." she pauses with narrowed eyes and leans in. "I'm not gonna drop it."

Arizona found herself leaning out of the doorway trying to figure out what was being said, mesmerized by the seemingly Latina female now walking away from the nurse's station and down the far hall.

"Can I help you Dr. Robbins?"

Almost releasing her heelys from jumping so high, the blonde turned to see an expectant looking Dr. Bailey. Not able to form words, Arizona simply put on a big grin and situated herself.

'Dr. Robbins?" Bailey then shifted her eyes beyond the blonde peds surgeon and on to the back of an exiting Dr. Torres.

"Ah. Never mind." Bailey issued her statement with a partial eye roll.

"What? Um.." Arizona fidgeted and traced back Baileys gaze to tanned woman in the hall who had stopped to talk to another resident. Her gaze immediately came back to a now, on the move Bailey.

"Don't even think about asking, it's none of my business."

"But wait! Wait." Arizona composed herself, straightening her shoulders. "I just-" her confidence returning, "I thought.. I recognized her?" and then it crashed.

"Mmm Hmm." the frank woman continued forward. "If you're curious about Dr. Torres, you should take that up with her."

"Dr. Torres..." the blonde whispered to herself. The smile deepened in her expression as the surgeon relaxed out in to the hall as she glanced back at the attractive doctor down the hall.

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After another surgery, Callie decided that some actual sleep was in order. After tapping the on-call room door handle to make sure that she could get in this time, she tregded through the door yawning and picked a bunk.

Settling into the mattress Torres turned away from the wall only to find an arm hanging loosely above her. Callie's last conscious thought centered in on it's slenderness until sleep claimed her.

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A beeper interrupted the serenity of darkness and brought Arizona Robbins back into consciousness. Wiping her eyes of sleep, she slid off of the bunk with a slight tingle in her arm. The blonde rubbed the blood back in softly as she made it over to the door, only to turn back towards the beds to retrieve her, still alarming, beeper. After retrieving the piece of plastic, her eyes fell down to press the button, only to focus in on who she believed to be a softly-sleeping Dr. Torres.

Arizona let a small smile cross her face as she turned back towards the door and exited the quiet room.

While the blonde surgeon made her rounds to see how Dr. Kennley's former patients were fairing, she let her mind drift back to the sleeping figure and her good luck to catch a glance at her twice that day. Part of her chastised herself at the same time, for thinking about someone she had yet to know, and may never know. Following the chastising came the inquery about why Dr. Bailey had fully accepted her being caught in the act of looking after this "Dr. Torres." More thought then--

"Okay, this has got to stop." She thought while shaking her head. She was a professional, and at this moment she was at work, being a professional. " This was not a club, this was not a sports game, you did not come here today to oogle some gorgeous, curvy, dark haired..... Enough!" The thought ended so strongly that it errupted from her mouth and caused a floundering intern to look nervously at her while clutching at his clip board.

Arizona looked quickly at him and could only muster a "Enough... standing around! Go save someone already!" "

Yeh, real nice save Arizona."

The intern simply turned quickly and exited as if she had threatened him with a scalpel and a teddy bear, all at the same time.

"This might be harder than I thought."

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That's part one for now, hope you enjoyed!


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** People Talk, Alot 2/?

**Author:** Lauren Michelle

**Pairing:** Callie/Arizona

**Rating:** PG, for this one at least

**Summary:** Before the kiss at Joe's and how Arizona got ahold of all of this, "talk."

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the show, or anything related to the show. I don't make any money, from this or otherwise, and simply am writing for my enjoyment.

This is my first fanfiction since I was fifteen, so feel free to hand me some criticism. I'm also a very new fan, so I hope to improve soon! I have no beta, so all the mistakes are my own. I just figured I'd take a stab at it, though it's a bit short. Enjoy!

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The room was dark and haunting, but there wasn't much that the blonde could do about that. Sitting up in bed, letting the covers expose her bare torso, she scanned the window for any hint of weather, only to see the darkness that accompanied 5 am. She should be feeling relief, the worst of the night was over, this was the cool, calm that she'd been waiting for.

After deciding her mind had stilled for too long, she averted her eyes as if to change the subject. Climbing out of bed, her feet felt the evenness of the wood floor below.

"Just another day." She thought, trying to distract herself as she made her way to the shower. "Just wash all of the memories away.." her hand instinctively met with her wrist, and softly ringed her slender fingers around it. "Just wash them away."

Arizona then climbed into the shower and let the steam overtake her body and mind, almost coehercing her to lean against the slick wall. Her mind went to this and that, her patients, her family, her need to record G4 that day.

Limbs began to relax, shoulders were lowering, and her chin tipped up to feel the warm water on her face. "And maybe I'll meet Dr. Torres today..." her face subtly broke out into a grin at the thought.

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She had been at the hospital for several hours at this point, children coming in and out with coughs and lacerations. There were still some heavy cases, but she was confident that all of them would survive, or at least have the good fortune of time.

"Ah, the complications of a cafeteria." She thought, as she gazed out at the full tables with a tray in hand.

Dr. Robbins had only been at the hospital for a short time and had yet to really meet very many people, other than "What's your specialty?" and "Rainbows, relationships, and crap." Bailey was no where in sight and Karev's table was occupied by Izzy, Christina, and two others she didn't recognize.

Her sight then shifted further off to spot Dr. Sloan and... "Dr. Torres" she thought as her smile widened. This wouldn't be a big deal, two seats were free and empty seats were few and far between today. She had met Dr. Sloan, briefly, earlier on a case, so no real awkwardness there. Her confidence was transfered into her stride and expression as she made her way to the table, only to find that they were motioning to leave after finishing their lunch. Before she had reached her destination, she was left by herself, due to her still undetected presence.

Shoulders falling, she sat down at the empty table. As she lifted her less-than desirable sandwich, her eyes came up to meet it, only to find an unfamiliar face. Arizona took a quick bite before thinking about introductions as a young, slender, dark haired doctor sat down nervously in front of her.

"Hi, I'm Lexie." said the smiling brunette.

The peds surgeon chewed and swallowed quickly, setting down her sandwich with one hand and putting the other lightly up to her mouth. After swallowing, a smile spread across her face.

"Arizona Robbins, nice to meet you!"

"Did you just miss them too?" Lexie inquired lightly.

"What?" Arizona replied while laughing nervously. "Um.. miss who?" Sounding innocent enough in her head, the blonde began to slowly relax and take a quick sip of milk.

"Mar- I mean, Dr. Sloan and Dr. Torres." The young brunette looked down at her tray, seemingly absorbed with her meal, blushing furiously.

"I see." Beaming, Arizona moved to catch Lexie's eyes. "How long?"

The brunette looked as if she were about to explode with exclamation.

'Or, not..." Arizona took another sip of milk, still maintaining eye contact.

Inaudible information suddenly came spilling from the young intern, fast paced, in-depth information. Hand gestures went flying and shallow breathes followed.

"Whoa!" the blonde caught herself saying. "Deep breathes." This is not exactly what she had expected.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry." said the brunette, trying to bite back her need to continue. "Here you were just sitting down, and I just came and- you were being so nice- and-"

Reaching across the table, Arizona lightly touched her hand, "It's okay." Seeing that Lexie looked deeply embarrassed, the blond let out a breath and gave an involuntary grin and withdrew her hand. "Tell you what, it's only fair to tell you a little secret too. I did just miss them." the confession ended in a quick wink.

Lexie's eyes widened slightly. "You mean M-?"

"No, no-no." cutting her off quickly.

"Oh! Oh." the intern let a small pause between the syllables.

"Yeh, um. Only, I don't know her." once it escaped her lips, Arizona could tell that it didn't sound nearly as innocent as it did in her head.

"You don't, you don't know her?" looking at the blonde questioningly.

Catching her self, "I just haven't had the chance yet. I was just brought in a little while ago, and I have this thing with terrible timing." stopping herself. "I just wanted to meet her."

Seeing Lexie smile, Arizona relaxed, hoping that her good intentions were known.

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Walking down the hall to answer a page, Arizona recounted everything that had been discussed at lunch. Lexie had gotten to talking about Mark's and _Callie's _friendship.

"Callie, I wonder if that's short for something..."

Beyond that, they made polite conversation about the hospital and their respective experiences dating within close quarters, which was a conversation Arizona had cut short. Not only because of her being paged, but because of a bad taste in her mouth whenever she thought about _that_ relationship.

But, going back to the good points, she had learned about Callie's- "Erm, Dr. Torres's" she corrected in her head, career and her successful career. She may not have learned much, but it was enough for now.

Coming upon the patient, her thoughts switched to softness for the child and professionalism for the parents. Seeing that the parents weren't currently present, Arizona rolled into the room with her heelys in a surfer pose.

Seeing the small girl smile, she returned the expression both inside and out. "Dr. Torres or no," she thought, "this makes life good."

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I wanted to make it longer, but here seems like an appropriate place to stop.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** People Talk, Alot 3/?

**Author:** Lauren Michelle

**Pairing:** Callie/Arizona

**Rating:** PG, for this one at least

**Summary:** Before the kiss at Joe's and how Arizona got ahold of all of this, "talk." Also, shedding some light upon Arizona's past and Callie's present.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the show, or anything related to the show. I don't make any money, from this or otherwise, and simply am writing for my enjoyment.

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Relaxing her form, the blonde threw the key's lazily into the ceramic bowl by the door. She couldn't help recounting the day as she slumped into the couch, too tired to make it towards the bedroom. She preferred it there anyway, she thought.

The day had been rough, and she had lost a patient that shouldn't have died, she'd about killed herself skating through a hallway- a thought that made her instinctively rub her arm- and at the end of the day, she was doomed to end up in her apartment. Not necessarily the safest place in her mind, to say the least.

The silence was ebbing at her, in need of a remedy she reluctantly rolled to on her side to reach the stereo remote on the coffee table. She wasn't particularly sure what she had previously left in the player, but figured anything was better than the nothing. Pressing a button the sounds of Uh Huh Her's "Covered" drifted through the room.

It seemed appropriate enough to the blonde, as she set down the remote with a sigh. The room seemed calmer now that sound had penetrated dreary silence. More of a clean slate.

"Though a slate never really comes clean..." She thought as her eyes wandered up to the ceiling. Her thoughts then pondered how many ceilings she may have seen in her life, how many she had only seen once and the ones she never hoped to see again. Unfortunately, one of those horizontal walls was her own.

"Maybe I should have gone farther away, moved to a different apartment." The thought was a valid one, cowardly perhaps, but valid. So many positive memories, if taken out of context, had happened under this ceiling, behind those doors. Her gaze fell to the direction of her bedroom and then her eyes snapped shut.

"Don't go there Arizona." she proclaimed into the pillow that she had brought over her head.

She knew that no good could come of it. Nothing could fix those memories. She had dealt with them to the best of her abilities. Gotten all the help that she could have. She had thrown herself into her work, into her research and drowned all the rest with occasional one night excursions. She had seen therapists, psychologists, and had just reached past the need for group sessions. She knew that what had happened had no quick fix and that all that she could really do now is wait for time to slowly fade the memories and the wounds that she had licked to scar.

She found that her arms had lifted from the pillow and her hands had occupied themselves by alternating wringing her wrists. Recognizing the familiar action, she stopped abruptly and turned her thoughts elsewhere.

There had been a few pleasant moments that day. Since meeting Lexie the day-before-yesterday she had someone to talk to that didn't mind discussing personal matters. She loved Bailey, but- she knew that the chief resident didn't really want to swap heart-to-hearts. She had eaten with the small brunette for the second day in a row and had learned a bit about the politics of the hospital, meaning, of course, the sordid details that was the tangled web of Seattle Grace. It almost made her smile for a moment, hearing about on-call room incidences and the game of musical sexual-partners that seemed to always be going on behind sometimes closed doors. She had also learned about "Calliope." The full name that she felt kind of guilty about knowing.

Arizona's question about what Dr. Torres's name might be short of seemed innocent enough and some how on topic. Apparently Lexie had read some files at some point and with a photographic memory, had easily recalled the information. The blonde resident had to stop herself from taking advantage of that little wealth of knowledge. She knew that she would rather ask Callie herself at some point.

A bitter sweet moment had occurred after the death of her young patient Daniella. She had died of a severe case of pneumonia that was thought to be under control. The small girl had only been four, the only child of a young couple. It had broken her heart, seeing them holding her hand as she slipped out of reach in a hospital bed. After she called the time of death and stayed with the parents for a while, she had taken a moment in a nearby supply closet. She had set her watch to allow her two minutes to process and prepare to smile for the next small patient that entered the hospital.

She had wiped the tears from her eyes with her coat sleeve and took a deep breath. Upon exiting, she decided the a good glide across the hallway might give her a pick-me-up. So she did, only to glimpse a passing Dr. Torres in the process.

Distracted by thoughts of what might bring her up to Pediatrics and the shock of the sighting, she skated right into a small boy's room window. She had hit the glass with a loud "Oumf" that prompted the boy, her patient named Matthew, to let out a surprised sound and then a loud bout of laughter after seeing that his doctor was alright.

The Attending remembered looking through the glass at him sheepishly as she raised her arm to see the damage. Mid-motion she had realized what had made her run into the glass in the first place. She looked around panicking that the brunette might have spotted her lost battle with the window.

Arizona laughed softly at the recollection as she turned towards the cushions on the couch and thought how grateful she was that the moment had not been her first impression in Dr. Torres's mind. On the other hand it was unfortunate that Bailey had witnessed the scene. God knows she was never going to be able that live it down.

She was also thankful that she hadn't broken any bones that required any Ortho work. That would have been quiet the meeting though, she had to admit.

The blonde shook her head at the thought and decided it was time to get up and out of her work clothes. Sliding off her lab coat she padded through the main room and into her bed room. The wall of memories was beginning to come down and images didn't immediately enter her mind. She set down the coat and pealed her shirt off, following it when the rest of her garments.

There was something freeing about lacking clothing and coming home to an empty room. At one point she would have deemed it loneliness but now, it was just peaceful. Something that she wasn't going to be taking for granted for a very long time. She had worked hard to get to this place in her mind. A space that didn't require anything but herself. It was almost pleasant, she thought as she slumped into bed.

The covers were cold and inviting in the dark room. The sun had set hours ago and all that lit the apartment was the soft moonlight streaming through the open curtains. A few months ago, this time of night would have terrified her and kept her tossing and turning, but the lack of direct connection to those times had quieted the fear. The dwelling may house memories but now that was all it housed besides herself.

Before she drifted for the night, she thought she should celebrate her continuing freedom. "Maybe I'll go out tomorrow." she whispered dreamily, hearing Uh Huh Her still playing softly in the other room.

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Lexie had calmed down it seemed, Callie thought with a sigh in relief. She hadn't been approached between surgeries for the past six hours.

"It must be some sort of record." she breathed out softly.

The Ortho surgeon liked the brunette, she seemed like a nice kid, but if she had to hear about one more drop of happiness, sexing Mark, or wonderfulness she was going to have to crack some bones, and she didn't mean a patient's.

The Latina found a lull in work and settled into a chair, turning slowly in the chair her head turned to look up at the ceiling. It had been a while since she had sincerely smiled and she knew that. Her life seemed to be a series of false hopes, with George, chief-resident, and Erica. The turning slowed to a stop at the end of the thought.

There had to be a way to get out of this rut, she wondered about the possible solutions. She directed her gaze done a hallway to catch the back of an exiting blonde.

"Maybe I'll go out tomorrow."

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Author's note: Thank you all for your patience with me! I'm in search of a beta currently and anyone who would be interested in proofing my work and kicking my ass into writing gear is welcome to contact me :D

Until next time,

Jai


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** People Talk, Alot 4/?

**Author:** Lauren Michelle

**Pairing:** Callie/Arizona

**Rating:** PG, for this one at least

**Summary:** Before the kiss at Joe's and how Arizona got ahold of all of this, "talk." Also, shedding some light upon Arizona's past and Callie's present. And now we're approaching more than background story ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the show, or anything related to the show. I don't make any money, from this or otherwise, and simply am writing for my enjoyment.

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No apartment tonight, Arizona grinned at the thought, at least not sober anyway. The plan was to go to Joe's, drink, and maybe have a chance run-in with a certain Doctor. A part of her almost felt a little guilty, going somewhere knowing that Calliope might be there. The thought of the name prompted a bigger grin to cross her expression. The name had reminded her of something, when she heard it from Lexie. She felt a little like a weird, googling it from her home, before work. It was the name of the oldest of the nine muses in greek mythology, meaning "beautiful voice." The blonde had always had a soft spot for greek myth and the name definitely attracted her. But more importantly, she had learned of Erica Hahn today.

It had been after Matthew's final surgery, which had gone as smoothly as expected. She had stepped out into the hall and been caught off guard with the sight of a Dr. Torres standing only feet away. She was absorbed in, what looked like, friendly banter with Cristina Yang. They had only met briefly in conjunction with her meeting Izzy but the impression of Yang had been a good one.

But back to the being caught off guard. Arizona had paused, mid-stride, and allowed her gaze to fix upon the brunette, she quickly went back and forth between walking over and discovering to say, but what if she couldn't think of anything? What if she opened her mouth and nothing came out, what kind of a first impression would that make? It doesn't exactly scream, "Date me!" Or anything that might lead to remote thoughts of sexy or mysterious, thought it may scream a "creepy" or two. Needless to say, with all of this inner dialog, not much moving was being done.

Meanwhile, in a conversation not so far away.

"So you won't go out for drinks tonight?"

"It depends, are you finished moping yet?" Yang retorted as she looked over a chart.

"Moping? I'm not moping!" the brunette proclaimed as she took a sip of coffee and put on a wide smile. "No moping here. Only happy, happy all the time, happier with drinks though. Drinks and company of course." the obvious fake smile broadened, accompanied with an awkward stare.

"One, I doubt the happy. Two, I doubt that your inebriation would improve this mythical happy. And three," motioning towards Callie's expression, "that's just creepy." Cristina quickly shifted her line of sight back to the chart and then slightly upward to a stationary person in her periph. Her reaction remained strictly internal as she recognized a Dr. Arizona Robbins with her eyes plastered to her roommate.

"Fine," Callie said reluctantly, as she took another sip of coffee. "don't believe me, but you're missing out Yang."

I'll bet." she retorted, as she set down her chart and noticed that the blonde had still yet to move her feet, or her eyes. "Just try not to stumble in too loudly." Great, she thought, another blonde surgeon, perfect.

"I'll break the door, just for you." the brunette retorted as she turned and and exited.

"Looking forward to it, I'm sure." Cristina lowered the chart to her side, shifted her eyes between the two women, and made strides past the Peds statue. "Let's hope you're nicer than Hahn."

Arizona could only muster a confused grin as she hurriedly composed herself after Dr. Yang passed by.

Back in blonde and perky land. "What the hell's a Hahn?" with that and a perturbed/puzzled expression she was off to solve a mystery.

Lexie walked steadily down the hallway lost in a should I stay or should I go mind track. The somewhat secret was ebbing at her. She had found Arizona to talk to, but she didn't really know Mark or his nature and the intern was doing her best not to let loose another outburst on Cal-

Before she realized what was happening, a hand pulled her into an on call room. Expecting to see her plastic surgeon play boy, she was shocked to find a blonde Peds surgeon who looked a mess.

"Hahn."

"Wha?"

"Hahn, it's not place, it's not a thing, it's not even a word in a dictionary. What is a "Hahn?"

The brunette had gone from startled to increasingly confused at the stress that was put on the familiar name of surgeons past. "Hahn, is a noun, and a she. She's, she's gone."

"Gone?" The blonde questioned and paused with a confused look.

"Gone, parking lot, no return. Gone as in, no longer here- why am I being questioned? Did- did you pull me in here?" Lexie looked back at the door with "over here" and "over there" hand gestures trying to recount how she came to be in the on call room.

"Okay, the not in Seattle Grace has been established and I'd like to think of the "pulling" as more of a clever covert pan in action, but Dr. Yang just walked past with her "I hope your nicer than Haun." statement," the blonde said with her best Yang impression. "and walked off! I don't know what a Haun is, or, I suppose, who "Hahn" is. I've tried not thinking about it but-" Arizona stopped briefly seeing her friends continued gesturing. "Lexie!"

"Huh?" the brunette looked up.

"I'm sorry it's just, I don't have a lot to go on here. Not that I should be going on with anything, I don't even know her. I just feel this has really gotten out of hand," her speech quickened with the splintering dialog, almost to an aside performance. "I don't even know if she dates women yet?" she froze with the thought, wondering how she could have even gotten this far without really knowing.

"You didn't- you didn't know?" Lexie stammered. "She dated Haun, or they slept together- Mark wasn't really that specific, surprisingly. But regardless, yes, she and women- yes."

A gin spread grandly across the blondes face. "Really?" her voice picked up a register, "Cause that's, that's just- super!" the enthusiasm was undeniable.

"Uh huh," the intern nodded hesitantly, she had seen Arizona border this sort of excitement but the crossing of the "super" line, she decided, was oddly satisfying and- cute. Yes, this is a good thing, she thought, her "secret boyfriend's," the term took a moment to sting, friend could use a little happiness and she was glad to aide in it. "You know, if it helps,"

The blonde directed her full attention.

"She's going out to Joe's tonight, or that was the plan." she contemplated what more should be shared. "And I think, she could really enjoy someone right now, someone like you." she finished with a small smile.

Arizona was in her own little fog of happiness at that point, gay, Calliope, happiness.

"Well I'm gonna-" Lexie motioned towards the door. "you going to be okay?" the brunette looked over, almost concerned that the grin might be permanent.

"Perfect." The blonde grinned, still in a foggy haze.

The brunette giggled softly and exited, only to hear the faint sounds of excitement through the door as it clicked.

Arizona grinned thinking about the Dr. Torres who sleeps with women, while slipping into street clothes. Tonight would be great, no pressure, feel each other out- she chastised herself for drifting elsewhere in that statement- it would be great. Deep breathe and remember, you're hot.

"Drinks: 2, Callie: 0" the Latina breathed. She hated to admit it, but she may just stumble in to the apartment toni- No, she thought, not going to happen. I am a senior resident, I'm amazing in bed, and damn it, I am in high demand!

As much as she'd like to stand up, down her drink, and find someone to invest in for the night, no one was there that she was remotely interested in. The bar was pretty full and she could barely muster the motivation to finish her drink. This was supposed to be fun, her pick-me-up-from-my-ass kind of night. Erica was gone, no lusty intern to worry about, this was supposed to be looked at as a clean slate. But the more time she spent looking at her napkin, the lower she felt.

Little did she know that a blonde surgeon had just made her way through the doors behind her.

Arizona scanned the bar for an open seat and found her eyes stop upon a solo Dr. Torres. Unfortunately the only seat open near her, wasn't near her at all. She sighed, it would have to do. She smoothly slid into a bar seat and ordered something hard. It could only help her confidence, she reasoned. Turning to her left, she drummed up an introduction with a nice enough looking stranger.

Callie took a sip of her drink as the man next to her left his seat. She contemplated leaving as she heard a "Hey, mind if I sit here?" she recognized the voice to belong to Lexie Grey as she turned towards here. "No, no, just- over-thinking." with that she downed her glass.

"Do you think he'll tell him?" the intern questioned point blank.

"If he's not an idiot." the response was soft as she thought how much of an idiot her friend Mark really was. Here, next to her, was a beautiful young girl who actually cared for him and wanted to be with him and he was making excuses because he'd slept with too many of his friend's sisters. It sounded like a cop-out to her... This is too much, she thought with a sigh.

"Are you okay?"

Callie knew she was concerned, she didn't want her to be concerned. There shouldn't be anything to be concerned about. "Um, um- I don't-" nothing sounded right, "I'm fine." her hand lightly tapped the bar, waved for the brunette to forget about it, and signaled her retreat to the bathroom. Leaving a Lexie Grey, party of one, to think.

Drinks: 2, Chip Basket: 1, Arizona: 0, the blonde thought. The man next to Torres had left, but had quickly been occupied by Dr. Grey before she could think of moving. The conversation with the red-headed woman next to her had remained light and pleasant. She was grabbing a drink while her brother-in-law was in surgery. Since she was only there to support her sister, and the sister had voiced that she wished to be alone, she decided to drink. Her name was Lisa and she had noticed early on that her bar neighbor had a tendency to let her attention shift to woman a few seats away. "So she's your type eh?"

Arizona was caught slightly off guard. Composing herself she replied quickly, "Huh?"

The red-head instinctively lowered her voice "The dark one, over there, sitting with the little one. And judging from your lack of come hither approach and abundance of talking with me, I'm guessing it's a secret." she winked.

The blonde couldn't help but laugh a bit with a regained confidence, "Yes, something like that."

"You should buy her a drink then. Secrets won't get make you happy, or get you laid, for that matter." Lisa smiled.

"Maybe I will." She grinned looking over with the thought of possibility. She noticed that Callie was leaving, but it seemed she hadn't paid, so she couldn't go far. With the faint outlines of a game plan forming, she lifted a small chip with a cheer of confidence.

"Maybe I will."


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** People Talk, Alot 5/?

**Author:** Lauren Michelle

**Pairing:** Callie/Arizona

**Rating:** PG, for this one at least

**Summary:** This is a story between the lines and between the characters Arizona and Callie. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the show, or anything related to the show. I don't make any money, from this or otherwise, and simply am writing for my enjoyment.  Author's Note: I know that I just found a beta but, I couldn't wait. I'm really excited about this post and what all I'll be writing next. I hope it's to your satisfaction. Thank you all for your comments and support! 

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Arizona looked intently upon the door knob that lay in front of her, hands slightly trembling from the anticipation of the multitude of scenarios that ran through her mind. She struggled not to visit any of them, for Callie could open the door at any moment, probably resulting in a meeting that the blonde didn't favor. Gulping, she mustered up whatever courage she could and let her fingers meet metal.

Lexie sighed, and looked down to her drink, stirring it softly. She felt the atmosphere shift as someone occupied the seat beside her. Turning to speak to Callie she stopped to find a red-headed woman.

"You're friend going to be okay?"

It took the brunette a minute to process and then reply, "I think so, maybe, she'll be back soon." The comment was meant to insinuate that the seat was still taken, but her company didn't seem to pick up on it.

"I think my friend went to check on her."

Lexie had noticed when she came in that the blonde surgeon was present, and the situation finally clicked in her head. "Oh! That's great!"

"I take it that the "secret" isn't a very well kept one then" the red-head laughed.

"Sorry?" Lexie replied, confused.

"Oh, how rude of me, I'm Lisa." the new comer grinned as she held out her hand. "And, I wouldn't worry about it too much. What should perhaps concern us is that woman over there, heading towards our friend's rendezvous.

The brunette was quick on the uptake and left her seat.

"This is already better than a hospital." Lisa grinned as she followed the hurried brunette.

Arizona entered and instantly found herself taking in the image of Calliope Torres. Whatever situations she may have imagined, they were out the window as she took in the scene and adorned a soft smile. The brunette was looking into the mirror, with a quiet sadness that emanated from her expression.

"Hey."

Lexie swerved quickly in front of Joe's women's room. "You can't go in there!"

The woman who had come to a halt in front of her seemed to have been caught completely off guard. "W-why?"

"It's- out of order." it wasn't perfect, but it could work, she thought.

"Out of order?" the women looked confused and a little drunk.

"Yes, I've been waiting for the owner to fix it all night."

Lexie looked up to find that the red-head she had just met was the source of the helpful statement.

"Oh, bushes it is then!" with that the woman raised her arm and turned towards the exit.

Maybe more than a little drunk, Lexie thought while an amused expression crossed her face. "Thanks-"

"Lisa." she smiled and extended her hand.

"I'm Lexie."

Callie wiped her eyes once she heard an unfamiliar voice greeting her. Between motions she saw a blonde woman reflected in the mirror. "Hey."

"Ortho, right?" Arizona found herself on autopilot, that luckily seemed to know exactly what it was doing.

"Yeah, right- Hi." it was a rushed response, but far better than the "Crap, crap, someone who knows who I am." that was running through her mind.

"I'm Arizona Robbins, Peds surgery." Well, almost knew where it was going. she tried to mask her uncertainty with a quick smile. "I've seen you at the hospital." that didn't sound weird at all. Her composure threatened to falter, but she suddenly felt like she could stay on track.

Callie could only respond with a quick sound, trying to figure out why someone thought this moment was the best time for an introduction.

Arizona studied the brunette in the mirror, she had been crying.. "Are you okay?"

"You know I'm fine- I'm fine."

The blonde watched as the she turned toward her and knew that if she didn't hurry and say whatever needed to be said, she might end up just looking at the woman across from her.

"People talk, where we work. They talk- alot" she couldn't help but stress the last word, thinking of all the crazy things that she heard without even asking for them. "So for the sake of being honest I think I-I should tell you that I know things about you." other than the obvious of you being attractive and gay. Running through what she had just said in her head, Arizona was thankful she kept the last bit to herself. "Because people talk."

The Ortho surgeon utilized what was being said and immediately summed it up to random sympathy/pity. "Oh. You mean-"

Arizona nervously nodded assuming it had something to do with Hahn and a parking lot.

"Terrific" she looked down, defeated. Another person who knew about the mess that had become her life, and for it to be a pretty stranger just made it worse.

"It is actually, " the blonde moved to try and catch her gaze. "the talk." she heard a sound of disbelief, but continued on. "People really like you over there, they respect you, and they're concerned-" once of them happening to be me, "and interested." me again. "They really like you." She was speaking with her and she could feel her confidence rising with every word. "Some of them, _really _like you."

On any other night Callie would have been intrigued by all of this, but tonight all she could muster was to drink it in and see where- Arizona was it? was going with all this.

"It's just, you look upset."

The brunette's eyes rose.

"And I thought that you should know that, the talk is good. And when you're not upset, when you're over being upset." she heard the sigh, but she knew she couldn't stop yet. "There will be people lining up for you." she caught her eyes traveling down Calliope and quickly brought them back to meet deep, brown eyes. She nodded, keeping the contact, trying to infer that it was herself that she meant, trying to be in front of what she was sure to be an already long line.

Callie simply laughed at the inference that a line even existed. "Wanna give me some names?"

The Peds surgeon kept her gaze and before she knew it, felt a rope being lifted, letting her into the VIP spot, at least for the moment. All she could think to do was search the beautiful brunette's expression as she made her real message known the only way she knew she could.

The recipient of the message barely knew what she was about when she saw blue eyes near hers. Before she could assess their intent, she felt a hand brush her cheek and soft lips meeting hers.

Arizona reveled in the contact, brief as she new it should be, and pulled away slowly. They both took a moment to really see each other and know for sure what had just happened had actually occurred. Seeing that the woman she had been trying to meet was looking at her with an expression of awe, she spoke.

"I think you'll know." she drank in another moment of Calliope and smiled, not thinking of her victory but of the woman that stood before her and how her grin was being reflected back by her. With that, her happiness broadened and she felt an exit was appropriate, and so she left Calliope to her thoughts and stepped back behind the metaphorical rope, as she shut the door, and returned to the front of the line.

"So," said Lisa as she studied the door they were guarding. "What do you think they're doing in there?"

It had been several minutes and still no one was exiting, so Lexie assumed that the two surgeons had at least met at this point. "Talking I hope." The two women outside the doors had repelled several women who seemed desperate to pee, so she was hoping that they were suffering for a good cause.

The brunette surgeon stayed and watched Arizona Robbins exit, while taking in what had just happened. After a few moments of silence and several mental reruns of the kiss, "I am so back." She proclaimed to the air triumphantly

Arizona softly closed the door, still grinning like an idiot.

"So, how'd it go?"

The blonde snapped half-way back to reality to see a playful looking Lisa and a curious Lexie.

Getting only an "I've been to heaven and back" kind of air as a response, the red-head laughed. "Really? That fast? Wow, and here I only suggested buying her a drink. You don't waste any time do you?"

The brunette next to her blushed and looked at Arizona.

"No! No. I just, we just- nothing like that" the blonde waved her arms in negation towards the two of them. "Can we, can we please move away from the door?"

The three women looked at each other and edged away, scattering for the night. Lisa and Lexie returned to their respective seats at the bar and the Peds surgeon made a get-away to call a cab.

Callie dreamily left the restroom to find several woman forming a line.

"The two girls said that the restroom was working, is it?'

"Huh? Yeh- sure." the brunette brushed them off, too busy thinking about the slender blonde and the tingling still left on her lips.

Looking around the bar, she was disappointed to find that the Peds surgeon was nowhere in sight. Continuing to scan the room, she returned to her seat next to Lexie.

"You okay?" Lexie felt a little redundant for asking, but she really wanted to know what had gone on in the bathroom.

"Perfect." she grinned. "You wouldn't happen to have seen a blonde who works at the hospital, would you?"

Arizona sat in the roomy backseat of a cab with her fingertips touching her lower lip. It seemed unreal that she had just done that, kissed Calliope Torres. If she had ordered more to drink she'd think she was imagining things. Kissing her had been better than she imagined, the fact that she had imagined it made her blush slightly, but "Wow."

"A blonde?" Lexie questioned. "Nope, I don't think so." She felt badly for lying, but she assumed she had talked enough for one day.


	6. Chapter 6

Title: People Talk, Alot 6/?

Author: Lauren Michelle

Pairing: Callie/Arizona

Rating: PG, for this one at least

Summary: This is a story between the lines and between the characters Arizona and Callie. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the show, or anything related to the show. I don't make any money, from this or otherwise, and simply am writing for my enjoyment.

Author's Note: I know it's been a long time, and I shouldn't have been absent for so long, but I'm back now. I will continue to update to the best of my ability and I hope you will still find some enjoyment in that :) Thank you all for your patience.

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Foreign thighs slid together as lips covered lips. Blonde hair slid across the pinned tanned body beneath, running across the smooth curves below the waist. The heat was intoxicating as the tension and need increased as she neared- Arizona's eyes snapped open to see a pillow being smuggled beneath her. Her gaze fell upon the soft, down prisoner, her lips gathering to the right as her emotions mixed pleasure with disappointment.

Cold, harsh, and painful, those described her nights of the past. Often she would awake in a cold sweat, covers everywhere, the pillows thrown by the door, and her in a mass on the floor. The dreams, when she could recall them, were horrific and vivid, often the same situations repeating only in a different location. More often than not, the landscape was her own bedroom, causing confusion to over-take Arizona when she awoke, convinced that it had happened again, happened just then, and she couldn't stop it. But tonight, these pondering only lasted seconds compared to the memory of meeting and kissing Calliope Torres all in the same five minutes. She felt like such a cliche, shedding the panic with the chance of something positive to focus on. It was bad enough when small coffins had been the focus of her pain, but with them added on to her personal memories of violation-

Her mind stopped there and backtracked to the warmth of the abruptly ended dream and accomplishment that should be carrying through the rest of the night. She could feel the gentleness against her still. Arizona saw that softness when she had entered the bar bathroom, a kind of honesty that she wished she had seen everyday of her life, after all the lying and manipulation that had happened.

Her mind stopped at that as she looked up to her ceiling as she settled decadently into the center of the bed.

The cab ride had been hard, but necessary, the exit was executed too well to stay and continue what had occurred in the bar bathroom. Soft fingers found their way to her lips as the feeling returned from the dream. A smile formed beneath them as a thought crossed, that it may not have to be a dream for long, the way she was grinning after the kiss.

The original plan involved more alcohol of course, and thoughts of not coming home, and if so, not alone. But once the blonde glimpsed Calliope looking in the mirror, she knew the brunette was going to be more than that, needed more than that.

Arizona now wanted to give her all of those things.

Her sleek body brought the pillow with it as she untangled herself from sheets, re-situating to see the ceiling above her. A smooth feeling of calm came over her, replacing all of the anxiety she once felt in this room. There was now something bigger than herself to consider, something immediate to look forward to... Really immediate, she thought.

The word "work", never had such and interesting twang to it.

Arizona let out a small smile, quickly covering the curve of her mouth with soft, cotton fabric.

Lexie pulled up the collar of her coat, stepping outside of the bar at about 2am. The night had been nice, even after the excitement. Lexie had been waiting for Mark at the bar, but since Meredith was a few tables away, she doubted it would matter if he even showed. At this point, she wasn't terribly concerned to be honest. She had enjoyed several rounds with her new partner in crime and was having a lot of fun swapping stories and well-balanced banter. Lisa was fiery, to say the least. She was bold, loud, and not ashamed in the least, which was refreshing in the midst of keeping a secret.

"What to do?" She whispered out into the night.

"You still waiting out here for a cab Lex?" Lisa's voice sounded behind her with an implied grin.

Lexie found herself grinning as she continued to look out into the street. "Oh, um- yes. Still waiting."

"Wanna share?" Lisa questioned as she stepped forward while hailing a cab.

"Sounds good." the brunette agreed with a smile and a small gulp.

The red-head's eyes looked to her traveling companion as her hand guided her gently to the approaching yellow vehicle. She found it a bit difficult not to let her hand slip to Lexie's lower back.

Callie had continued to maintain her pleased expression as she sipped lightly at her drink.

"Are you going to tell me what prompted that dumb grin your sporting?"

"Mark- how long have you been sitting there?" The Latina's eyes searched the scene around the plastic surgeon.

He sat comfortably in the chair beside her, with a drink already in hand, meaning he had been waiting for her to take notice, and had apparently given up.

"Long enough to know that either your drink has been spiked, or that-" His eyes embarked on a brief travel across his friends glowing skin. "you just got laid."

The brunette instantly turned three shades of red as she let out a nervous laugh. "Noooo. No, no, no, no."

"Really?" he teased. "Cause you're still grinning." Mark's expression turned smug as he tipped his glass to her. "But it's okay, don't talk. Let it build up, you'll tell me eventually, you always do."

All Callie could do to smother her glow was to steal a shot that he had previously ordered.

Arizona donned her lab coat and smoothed the torso while smiling into the mirror. The morning promised to be crisp and the longer she considered the possibilities, the more the surroundings of the apartment fell away.

Lexie stretched languishly in her bed. Her head twinged with ache but it was soon forgotten as she glimpsed the clock, a full twenty minutes after her shift started.

"Crap, crap, crap!!"

Tearing her cloths off of the ground she rushed into her closet and then out the door. Not even noticing the drowsy, yawning form left in her wake.

The morning rush had been hectic, and Callie swore that there must have been some major skate boarding catastrophe because five 10-15 year olds with broken limbs in the course of three hours? Ridiculous.

Only when the elevator open in to pediatrics did it dawn on her, as she automatically hid to one side, peering, what she thought was discretely, into the brightly decorated hall.

"What are you doing?" she whispered to herself. "She'a blonde not a-"

"Good morning Calliope." The blonde poked her head in at eye-level with a sunny expression.

The brunette looked at her blankly for a split second before shooting to an upright position. "Arizona!"

The peds surgeon chuckled as she smoothly followed Callie's maneuver. "It seems I'll be requiring a bit of your expertise today."

Callie watched as the blonde's eyes made a subtle glide up and down her.

"With all of the casting traffic of course." Arizona widened her smile and turned to leave. "I'll be seeing you Calliope."

Feelings of curiosity and physical intrigue crept across the Latina's body and mind as she stepped out of the elevator and allowed her eyes to follow the blonde's body as she walked down the hall. A look of surprise crossed Callie's face as wheels appeared under the surgeon's shoes, and the walk turned into a glide, triggering giggles from the patient's room.


End file.
